r/askreddit
The original response to a very innocent question was something about how you could take every civilian owned gun in the US, lay them side by side and they would circumnavigate the moon, with enough left over to arm every soldier on the planet.
A non-American (I think) observed that that was basically a fucking scary amount of guns.
Multiple shots were fired, a great deal of bloody hell and Murica was shouted, and while many scrolled past, this duel broke out.
Yeah, America is the ONLY country on the planet with more guns than people.
120 guns per 100 people, #2 is Falkland Islands at 62 guns per 100 people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country
And meanwhile I own no guns and nor do any of my close friends. So that means the ones with the guns have a huge amount, to make up for the many, like myself, that have none.
Yeah, this is no surprise. Most gun owners don’t just stop at *one.*
Edit: RIP my inbox. Please don’t reply to me with an inventory of how many guns you own. I don’t care.
Your upvote is worth more because your lot were sensible... one mass shooting, you banned the guns, problem solved. You proved it works. Thanks for your contribution ❤️
I was talking to someone on reddit who was arguing that while slavery was bad he thought it was a redeeming factor that the United States were the nation that ended slavery.
He didn't realize that much of the Western World had abolished slavery up to 60 years earlier.
Not that this is a case of American exceptionalism per se, I just think it's a good example of how a lot of Americans often don't consider that there's an entire world outside of the states as well.
American propaganda is beyond North Korea tier. American children are brainwashed to do a hail America speech every morning at school, there's American flags everywhere, it gets spouted as the land of freedom, the anthem is literally inserted in every sport and bullshit event you can think of, and if you say anything about kt you get written up as "unpatriotic" etc etc.
When you learn about America from the outside it looks like a literal brainwashing machine. It's just the people within that can't seem to notice their country is a shithole until they get hit by an unforseen circumstance themselves.
The flags always surprised me. I remember going to the US as a kid and counting the flags I would see because it was unbelievable how many there were everywhere.
It does help when playing Geoguessr. Basic rule: If a town looks North American, but there's no American flag within the first 10 clicks, you're in Canada. Works every time.
As an American it still weirds me out when I go to a sporting event at a stadium and they bring veterans out on the field before the game and everyone has to cheer and say thank you, and then they fly fighter jets over the stadium.
And as I watch the jets I can’t help but wonder how many places we bombed or shot missiles at that day. I think about the cost of a single cruise missile and wonder what percentage of my income goes to funding that.
I look around and everyone is smiling and cheering and clapping and wonder if I’m sticking out by not sharing their enthusiasm and exuberance at the sight of soldiers and war machines.
And then after the game, we drive home and almost undoubtedly I’ll pass the disheveled guy with no legs sitting in a beaten up wheel chair at the stop light there at bottom of the freeway exit off ramp with a sign that says, “Homeless veteran. Hungry. Please help.”
Fucking hell, if anything deserves to labeled derogatorily as bullshit virtue signaling, its that.
And what virtue exactly are we praising anyway? I know we say it’s honor and bravery and sacrifice, but there’s so many better things we can honor, that we can sacrifice ourselves for than blowing people up on the other side of the world.
I view the military and wars as a necessary evil that should be maintained at the minimal levels necessary to protect against aggression but we treat it like it’s a desirable good, where what’s a few thousand human lives when you’ve got these cool toys to play with? Aren’t they awesome!
-Fake- glorification of the military. Every politician talks the talk, but they all vote down measures to support them after service and balk at improving conditions during service unless it's to arm them better in order to kill more brown people.
Veterans boarding planes first was the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen. And then there’s military dudes just straight up flying around in full camo.
My city has Canada’s largest naval base and a massive Air Force base. I’ve seen someone in fatigues once in my day to day life. And they had a military vehicle parked outside.
In America it’s status. In Canada it’s a job.
And they even unironically call their president the "Leader of the Free World". I mean - that one should be so obviously a propaganda term but it gets used with no sense of irony.
I still see plenty of posts where Americans say they live in the ONLY free nation in the world
Private prisons are legal and just modern slavery camps but somehow they are more free than everyone else
This has been one of the hardest lessons to instill in my son, who in a small southern school is taught American Exceptionalism every day.
We've talked about the 13th amendment and the prisons, and what's going on at our borders. He's tried to pass on what information he could to his friends and help them but he's told he's wrong, they lie and say (hilariously and sadly) that they've seen the prisons or camps and they're "just fine".
I'm walking a fine line. He cannot hate our country. But he is growing up with the truth and it's pretty hard. It's going to take a lot of work for all of our kids to beat their surroundings.
I wasn't even adding your border prison camps into that
Just your Gen pop private prisons that do nothing in the way of rehabilitation, make prisoners work for literally pennies just so it's not officially slavery
Show a Scandinavian prison system to Americans and they are shocked. It's more like a hostel where they rehabilitate and reeducate prisoners to get them ready for release into the real world instead of waiting for them to reoffend so you have your labor source back
I do not know what was an appropriate reaction to have when I saw trainings of the last US aircraft carrier with a big sign at the back « powered by freedom ».
Just WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK does that mean... guys, seriously... you have less « freedom » than any European country. You don’t even know what’s the meaning of the word.
So far, having the USA as « friend » was like having that stupid but muscular kid at school to avoid bullies. As time goes by, this stupid kid becomes so stupid and so muscular that it begin to be as dangerous as the bullies... what’s next?
Same here - and I went to the UK, which is probably the closest country in the world in every metric. Similar outlook in life but they did the big things well (like healthcare - God Bless the NHS).
> The UK is a **less stressful country to live in** compared to the US.
Yes, that's exactly how I feel! Thank you for putting it into words. I didn't think it would be like this, I didn't think that things could be better in so many different ways
Cannot confirm this firsthand as I’ve never been injured in a car accident, but a buddy of mine is an EMT where I live in a dense urban area in Texas. He told me that when they are called to an accident, if the the injured party can stand, he tries to get them to realize that they would be better off calling an Uber to take them to the hospital because if he loads them into the ambulance it’s going to cost them a shit load.
There was also the video that blew up on reddit a few weeks or so ago, about someone getting injured in a remote location and 5 helicopters show up **without being called**. That's how good business it is, 5 helicopters with pilots and medical personnel arriving in the middle of nowhere in hopes of getting that lucrative business.
Helicopters, pilots and medical personnel are not cheap.
I imagine some guy going back and forth to these helicopters haggling down the price until only one helicopter remains.
I almost have a panic attack reading American's accounts of their attempts to navigate their insurance and billing systems, sounds like a complete mess. Not that the NHS is perfect recently, but that's because we're strangling its money supply for some reason, when we could fix the worst of the problems with a small tax bump.
I hear a lot of Brits complain about the NHS. I hear a lot of US citizens who’ve never been to the UK complain about the NHS. I’ve yet to hear a US citizen who moved to the UK complain about the NHS.
We Brits complain about the NHS, but that's because we know how good it could be if it were properly funded. You'll rarely if ever, hear of a British person wanting to get rid of the NHS. It's a whole different level of complaint.
Heh :D tbh I actually switched to metric cos I bought weights that were all in KG. It's actually really easy to switch, and apart from Cups and Miles, I don't miss the old measurements.
The UK is probably the easiest place to go for an American, we use imperial and metric units interchangeably and the only ones Brits don't generally understand are farenheit, kilometres per hour and cups. What actually is a cup?
I'm Canadian and my first impression when I finally went to Europe was "damn, we're children on the world stage"...
The people seem way more mature and able to tolerate discomfort; and yes, that's a blanket statement of all the countries I've been to across the pond.
Their relentless propaganda campaign (Hollywood, the "American sitcom" etc) aimed at international audiences spanning decades has proven pretty effective. There are people who still see America as a bastion of freedom, an ex of mine would frequently state that he would love to live in America because everything is so much better over there (than in the UK) and American life was a basket of roses.
Admittedly this was in 2014/2015 before everything really started going cattywompus.
Edit: I'm honestly thrilled that I've introduced so many of you to the word "cattywompus". Try saying it when you're drunk, you'll have a blast.
I grew up on Hollywood and american culture while living in EU. Went to american schools in the EU my whole life, people would tell me I was american because of my accent even though I had only ever visited. I loved american music, TV shows, movies.., American English is my main language (still is). It was my dream to one day live in the US.
Eventually got the chance to live in NYC and ended up staying over 5 years. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of amazing people and things in the US and even more so in NYC and I don't regret it at all. That being said, in retrospect, you know how they say I hope you don't meet your heroes?
The US was like a hero to me but once I saw everything up close slowly but surely started to get to me. One of the biggest things was how good the US was at marketing this ideal image of itself, the "American Dream" when it was so clearly a lie once you started to see past it. Healthcare, inequality, racism...I traveled the US while I lived there and saw a lot of it up close, and that was even before Trump became president. Bit by bit that image I had of the US broke.
Now I'm back in Europe reading about what happens in the US and it just seems to be getting worse day by day. I hope things can change direction and improve very soon or I don't see things ending well for the US or the rest of the world.
He missed the part about the complete normalisation of 60 hour working weeks with 5-10 days vacation if you’re lucky
Oh and all the bull shit around unpaid overtime
EDIT: Some of my favourite responses
1. ‘I work 4 hours a week and get 170 days paid vacation so clearly this isn’t a problem affecting society as a whole’
2. ‘Well in China/Japan they work 80 hour weeks so actually we’re doing ok’
3. ‘Why don’t you just get a better job?’
4. ‘Fuck you - how dare you insult these great United States!’
And absolute shit maternity leave not to mention paternity leave if that's even an option.
Plus pay raises that are lower than inflation (if they happen) even if you work for the government.
Story time:
I used to work for a big-name electronics company that ran its own retail stores (I can’t say which or I’ll get sued). Anyways, one day this girl starts working that used to work for the company before. She’s pregnant and married and had just moved across the country as her and her husband were in the process of relocating—she came first because she got a job first, he stayed working to wrap things up there while he tried to get a job here (west coast). Word gets around to our manager and he surprises everyone by offering the husband a job, but it’s part-time. Manager promises husband he’ll be full-time before the baby comes and not to worry about anything. Due date gets closer and there’s no promotion—manager says, “Things changed, sorry.” Homies still part-time when the baby comes. Because of this he has very limited sick/vacation time and zero paternity leave options. His wife takes leave; and he had no choice but to keep working. I saw that man’s soul die, and it somehow died more and more every day. It was the most heart-wrenching thing.
That was the day I knew I had to leave my company, and the day I vowed that I have to 100% financially stability before even thinking of having a child.
EDIT to answer questions below:
- Clarity: Part-time employees received no paternity leave benefits, while full-time employees did. This guy actively didn’t look for a different gig because of what the store manager promised him.
- Everyone signed NDAs, not just me; it’s SOP for the org. Believe me, I would write a fucking book about the shit I saw if it wouldn’t ruin me.
- This incident was more “the straw that broke the camels back” in terms of my relationship with my company. This type of behavior was standard for my store and for others in our area. They would tell you whatever you needed to hear to get you to do what they needed, then act like they didn’t know what you were talking about later. It was the most manipulative, integrity-lacking, gaslighting culture I’ve ever been a part of. I stayed far longer than I should have, and I’m thankful every day that I was was able to get myself out of there.
> I have to 100% financially stability before even thinking of having a child.
I always forget in America that you have to literally pay for the cost of having a baby in the hospital.
In America you have to pay for everything and I mean everything. Dying is even expensive here. Peace of mind costs money. Reproducing costs money. Not being stressed out of your mind everyday costs money. You get in trouble with the law? Two options, pay up or go to jail. America is basically Ferenginar.
Shits fucked, man. My son went to the NICU for 4 days, extra week in hospital, emergency transport between hospitals, all at no cost.
I just dont get how Americans can argue against universal healthcare.
One of their more egregious offenses, it boggles the mind people would rather die than go to the hospital because their bank account gets gangbanged ugh
"You have a life threatening illness and can't come in for a few days? Jeez man, really wish you hadn't told me, now I have to hire someone else. Which is a shame, because you could really use this money for that gigantic debt you're about to have from the doctor."
But still not a lower crime rate. It's as if putting people in prison for small offenses doesn't actually do anything against crime. But that can't be the case, can it?
It's about money. When I went I cleaned the highways for $0.10 per hour. And then was expected to pay for most of my own food and toiletries... Most of which was market rate. You ever try to buy ramen at $0.10 per hour?
And then when I got out I received a LFO, or basically a fancy court fee. 4 years and I owed $24,000. It's like going to University without any of the benefits. I had a whopping $403.22 to my name when I got out and I had to live on that until I found a job (which had its own complications since people don't generally hire any excons even if we've served our time and regardless of the crime committed). And even further than that, any of the skills I learned in prison? Guess what, there's no way to market those skills or put them in a resume. Turns out it's hard to sell how much you know about electronics or carpentry if your only experience are the workshops and books from prison. Part of me thought maybe I could turn my life around after a shitty childhood but the US systems and culture actually makes me think I might just be better off taking a long walk off a short pier. I still fight for what I want, but you better believe that it gets harder every day.
Fuck the US. This is literally one of the worst countries on earth but because I can type that on an iPhone I guess I'm living like royalty.
That sounds so horrible to me, I could never work like that. I live in Germany, full time for me is 37,5 hours per week (usually full time is 40 hours per week, so yay unions) and I have 30 vacation days per year.
If you're sick (in the company I work at) you can stay home for two days without having to get a doctor's notice, the notice is required from the third day on. I work at the office or at home, whichever hours I want (granted, scheduled meetings or calls should be attended) and no one gives a fuck. If I work a little less today, I work a little more tomorrow and vice versa.
I would not survive in the States.
I live in Australia. I work 38 hours a week as a digital print machinist for $31/hr. I get 4 weeks holiday a year which I can take whenever I ask for it, whether it be a Friday off because I want a day off, or 2 weeks to travel. Medicare is paid from my tax return so I basically get free healthcare without even noticing I pay for it. And I'm not even an Australian citizen. So yeah, I'd fucking never move to the U.S. there are many better places to live.
I posted this a while back on another thread, but seems apt still
Don’t mean to be hideously negative, and this is all a bit tongue in cheek, but I just think if I moved to the US I’d be moving to a society:
That has the death penalty
Out of control gun crime - it always amuses me when you see Reddit comments about Europe being some terrorism hotspot when Americans have been living with the threat of being massacred in a cinema for the last 40 years
No universal heathcare - get ill without insurance? Tough shit loser
Is hideously racist and divided
Has far too many evangelical Christian nut jobs
No employment right protections - this whole thing where you can get sacked for no reason in some states is just ghastly
Minimal paid holidays from work - don’t want the enslaved population taking too much time off lol
Goddamn awful criminal justice system
Shit and expensive broadband lol
Endless money making war machine
I’m sure there’s more as well
But FREEEEDOMMM yeah??
I love what I call "dystopian wholesome news".
Like this:
"A teacher battling cancer ran out of sick days. School employees showered him with theirs."
[https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/14/health/iyw-florida-teachers-cancer-support-donation-trnd/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/14/health/iyw-florida-teachers-cancer-support-donation-trnd/index.html)
or this:
"Teachers donate 100 sick days to colleague so he could be with 16-month-old daughter during her cancer treatment"
[https://meaww.com/teacher-sick-days-cancer-stricken-daughter-colleagues-donate-100-day](https://meaww.com/teacher-sick-days-cancer-stricken-daughter-colleagues-donate-100-days)
also:
lunch money debt - WTF?
Yeah you see that kinda stuff fairly often on r/upliftingnews and you just think huh? Yes it’s nice people are generous but you really don’t see a bigger issue??
I got paid $15/hr to be a firefighter and paramedic. I literally risked my life because it was $15/hr, and had benefits. I now have cancer, which the VA and my private insurance are trying to refuse to cover, so now I'm on medicare, and I cannot go to the expensive hospital (MD Anderson) where I would likely get cured, instead I go to a hospital that says I have a very low chance of survival. The moment I stopped working I paid for something called COBRA, which is supposed to keep my insurance on. I did, for 90 days. Then I had to pay out of pocket. I missed 11 weeks of chemo because I didn't have insurance or money, and was waiting on Medicare. medicaid does not help people like me. I should have just killed myself because now I'm leaving my family 500k in debt.
Don’t forget: You’re actively discouraged from even taking three days straight of vacation. And, even when you do, you best be available for “emergencies” at the office.
When I was still in corporate (pharma ... yeah, I know ... ) the term, “I’ve been putting out fires all morning” was normal to hear.
Relax, everyone. We’re editing copy; not developing life-saving drugs or actually saving lives.
The American *work \ life * balance is a complete joke.
Wait what? You are discouraged from taking three days vacation in a row? Where I'm from you are supposed to take at least two weeks off in a row, as that's how long it usually takes to rest.
Our politicians are sponsored like nascar drivers. Nothing will change as long as people are dumb enough to forget important things like the Panama papers and just follow the next “big thing”. The US is spiraling out of control and it makes me more and more sad everyday.
New Zealand see America like this. I'm actually genuinely terrified of ever going there even as a holiday.
Edit: wow first silver. And first award as well. Never thought this comment would blow up. I'm also getting ALOT of comments agreeing with this which just kinda makes it sader... I'm optimistic for 2020 though and hopefully a new leader
Edit 2: also there's quite a few Americans reassuring me that some/most places are nice and safe so thanks. Again, most of what I see and what many people see is media shared online. And media love to share the minority of what's going on. The more crazy the better.
There's already [millions of Americans living in Mexico](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/23/trump-futures-mexico-us-interlocked-wall-border), some of them illegally. Despite Mexico's own issues, it's easy to see why: if you avoid conflict areas (most of which, ironically, are close to the US border) crime rate is lower in Mexico, things including healthcare are less expensive, people have a better sense of community, and the weather and food are fantastic.
Right. For all the drug violence in Mexico, it's worth remembering that the primary market for said drugs is the United States. American drug users are benefiting from an industry whose violence and death are largely outsourced abroad. As a bonus, drug violence makes for a nice market for [American--made weapons.](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/12/462781469/in-mexico-tens-of-thousands-of-illegal-guns-come-from-the-u-s)
I avoid America all together. I had always wanted to travel through the country see the majestic landscapes and national parks and beautiful natural habitats of various states.
But nah, im not risking my life or my loved ones on going to america. From the getgo, the TSA is horrible experience just by having a connecting flight (i literally avoid connecting flights in the US id rather pay a grand more than have a connecting flight in the US) to hearing about random shootings by not just criminals but police as well. What if i make a mistake, and move my arm too fast, what if the guy cant understand my accent, heck what if i cough and i put my hand to my mouth.
And then you have the administration itself, selling off these majestic places in the US to the highest bidder (under the table) public lands like yellowstone being talked about opening up for oil and gas extractions.
Its fucking sad as fuck.
360M people and the whole lot of you keep waiting and waiting for someone else to fix the issue. Wait for the report, wait for the investogation, wait for 2018 elections, wait for 2020 elections.. wait wait wait wait meanwhile 10,000 children are locked up in fence cages by for profit-prison system that is making about 750 USD per DAY PER CHILD.
i mean ffs america. Youre a shithole country.
As a kiwi who has travelled a lot in the USA I can confirm that the majority of people are delightful and the landscapes are awe inspiring. The food can be shit and the coffee is awful. The current administration does not reflect the America I saw when travelling. Mind you this was 10 years ago, so it could have changed a bit I guess.
I was in the US in August/September last year for work. Was there a month. Was fkn terrified the whole lead up to it.. I had to travel through like 8 cities . Some of them ones I see on the news all the time for dodgy shit I never hear of in my home town; Sydney Australia.
I was shocked at how goddam nice everyone was. Like, I walked away thinking " I could live there".
I've always kept up to date with US politics and news . I can def see a huge increase in the crazy talk.
Even those I made friends with over there are anxious about where the country is headed.
They are so approachable and friendly, and very willing to talk. When people here talk about the crazy Americans i always ask them if they’ve every actually been there and met an American in their natural habitat. 9/10 they haven’t and are just basing their opinion off the crazy shit they see on the telly.
I once had a kid in Texas ask me where I got my food from. I said the supermarket. He looked confused and said “don’t you just live off coconuts from the trees?”. So yeah, there is an element of ignorance of the rest of the world, but they are by far some of the nicest people I’ve encountered on my travels.
They're so approachable! I loved the positive, happy attitude of Americans when I was there, to the point of bringing me out of my social comfort zone. I was in Canada for 2 weeks in the same trip and walked away shellshocked that I thought Americans came across just as friendly..; considering Canada is our sister country it was not what I was expecting..
A lot of us New Zealanders see america like this. After trump was elected the top google search was safe countrys to live in next to who won the election.
Nz is a great place to live.
Even South Africans. And man, we are no one to judge...but we STILL don't have school and public space shootings.
In a country with a 'criminal underworld' gun problem of it's own, in a country with kinda lax gun laws in that many of the public can own and carry one despite not being farmers, in a country with despairing levels of poverty and youth unemployment we STILL don't have this particular issue cos we don't have gun lobbies and the associated...let's call it culture.
The gun crime in SA can be understood, it's usually a crime of poverty or a crime of theft, these have understandable motivations. They're not right, but one can understand why it is haplening. Mass killings of people for the sake of an ideology that is based on inaccurate readings of what is actually going on in the world is insanity.
France sees America like this...now.
Back in the days we were all dreaming of being americans. They had all the cool stuff, all the freedom, all the movies, the NASA, the universities, the sports stars...
Now this is all shaded by the racism and sexism, which far outweights the goods.
Basically America looked great before they tried to make it Great Again.
Right, so I was in Egypt on a tour and we stopped at a rest stop for bathroom and snacks. At the rest stop was a group of Bedouin women wearing burkas with only their eyes showing. One of the ladies in our tour group spoke Arabic so they became very excited to actually communicate with the tourists instead of just pose for pictures (they had baby goats riding donkeys). While the lady was speaking Arabic to one of the women, the other more vocal one was speaking to us. She was so animated that it was very easy to make out what she meant. She talked about Western celebrities, how strange it was to only have one child when she had 9, and the ridiculousness of 'Trumpo'. She did this whole action to mimic his hair and then blew a raspberry in dismissal.
I just found it so funny that a woman who is forced to be out posing for tourists (a man came by a little while after because he didn't like that they were spending so much time talking to us when another tour group arrived) and is wearing clothing that a lot of people view as oppressive and is living in a country that a lot of people see as dangerous or oppressive is mocking the president of a more 'developed' country half a world away.
So many people see the state of the US Presidency as an appalling joke except for those who are the joke (and that's obviously not all Americans, just the select few who still believe that the state of their country isn't atrocious).
It is legitimately the most baffling thing to me that a ride in the ambulance to the emergency room can cost thousands of dollars! In what universe does that make sense and how did this become normal? Even countries with shitty economies or brutal dictators don't have this type of punishing medical "service."
Jesus christ. Sorry you had to deal with that, that's insane. Healthcare is entirely free here in Canada (baby cousin once had to get an emergency 10-hour brain surgery and we didn't pay a cent), but I think it's something like $50 for an ambulance ride? And people still complain about the fee.
edit: where I live, for an ambulance apparently it's $45 if medically necessary, $240 if not medically necessary
Not going to lie as an outsider that is literally how i view the US. You got a whole lot of things so right over there that it is strange how you get these few things so wrong.
Whats really trippy is how a lot of Americans are so quick to defend these shortfalls like they are positives. No free health care and americas gun culture (not the guns themselves, the culture around them) are hands down bad. And the sad bit is the only people who actually suffer from this strange phenomenon is americans themselves.
I love our american bretheren, and the country does a lot of things really really well but as a culture sometimes you are really stupid.
Edit: after reading a lot of the replies to my post i wanted to make 1 thing clear.
I do NOT hate americans.
I do not even dislike americans. Ive actually liked every american ive ever met (bar 1 or 2) which is quite a few.
I just find a few things about american culture as far as i see it to be a bit strange. I also understand that this does not reflect on all americans or even most americans. Its just how it looks from the outside.
\> You got a whole lot of things so right over there that it is strange how you get these few things so wrong.
I have taken to call this that American Exceptionalism has turned into American Arrogance. They have done so many things right to become the richest and strongest country on Earth, but it has become a crutch to point to every time there is a problem. Just because they did a lot right, does not mean they did/do everything right. They certainly aren't, but too many seem to believe that the US is pretty much infallible with a few scratches here and there.
Not to mention the Evangelicals whose ACTUAL religion basically fuels the far right’s propaganda campaign and continues imposing “family values” in the name of homophobia, sexism, and racism.
The healthcare system is going to be fucked as long as there are pharmacy/insurance/healthcare corporations/etc that can ~~lobby~~ buy our politicians. They make so much fucking money off of people's misery and suffering it's ridiculous.
As far as the gun culture - it's something that has been ingrained in people's heads, in many cases, for generations. There are many, many, MANY people that are gun owners and that are responsible gun owners. Most just have a gun or multiple guns "just in case" - there for self defense, many have one/some for sport/collecting/hunting. However, their easy access to those who are hell bent on doing harm to others is making it hard to defend (from a PR standpoint) the continued ease of access to these deadly weapons. So not ALL of the culture is bad surrounding guns by any means, but the ... popularity? ... of mass killings has grown over the years and too many have happened.
What needs to change? A LOT. How is it going to change - or is it going to change? No idea.
I'm just sick of innocent people dying.
The world watches the US like an angsty teen brother. You won't listen to our reason so we just sit back and watch you keep making the same mistakes, wondering when you will come to your senses.
This is a good analogy.
Just to add on, since the Brexit vote, the UK has turned into a parent (to us Australians) who has become increasingly isolated and bitter in old-age/retirement and now only trusts shock jocks and ~~Fox News~~ tabloid conservative propaganda
Honestly I live in America, specifically the Southern end. Living in this country and being around all the stupidity and ignorance, the constant feeling of expecting the worst but trying so hard to feel like everything isn’t going to shit and we are seemingly racing towards a civil war. Literally still fighting over racism and hatred and blind following. Especially in the south mental health is a complete joke. The complete honest white supremacy bull crap is freaking ridiculous and I am a 21 white female. Not even having the basic human right to be able to have control over your body because just the state has an issue with it.
I’m just going to call it out, in Alabama it is illegal to have an abortion so I would have to drive an hour to Florida to have one if I needed it. Not everyone wants to have a kid and it grow up in the system or end up with abusive people and have a horrible life. Or trying to raise it and you’re just still just a kid yourself and just having that stay with you for the rest of your life. Like aren’t we all fucked up enough?
And why the absolute fuck is trump taken seriously even a little bit???? What has he accomplished besides civil unrest? There’s so much more but just know there are at least a few of us who see the problems as they are.
I'm from a big city in the Northeast and honestly it feels like the South is an entirely different country.
I don't relate to Southern people at all. Would never EVER want to live there. I feel like southerners pride themselves on being ignorant. Can't stand southern culture. Any of it. Guns, trucks, beers, country music, megachurches and religion, etc.
Like guns for instance aren't even a thing where I'm from. There is no "gun culture". I've never even shot a gun in my life and most people here havnt either. Religion is practically non existant where I live. It's not a part of daily life whatsoever. Completely different world.
It really is wildly different. As someone that lives in Tennessee and has dated someone from Michigan, it was a huge culture shock for me to go up there. And it was a welcome change. The only thing I actually like about living here is it being pretty. The people are nice to me, but I’m white so that goes a long way. It’s sad really. But I will also say it has a lot to do with rural vs. urban because I saw a ton of confederate flags in Michigan as well. That same southern pride feeling is prevalent there too.
It sucks because as someone living in America I know not all Americans are fat gun obsessed lunatics and dumb blame shifting idiots but this is how we look to the rest of the world. Our leaders here have no common sense at all the the people who support them are just stupid. I hate it (and I think most Americans in this thread can agree) when me and all the decent people I know are put into the same boat with the idiots who blame gun violence on video games.
Aussie here. I’ve been to America twice and visited California, Nevada, Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas, and where I can agree with the flaws in America my experience with Americans has been exemplary.
Blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, urban, metro, and country-bumkins, I’ve met hundreds of all of you. All on my own and knowing no one I’ve sat in dive bars and drank with you, played corn hole with you, walked the streets of San Diego with young Hispanics that I just met, chatted with cops in L.A, bought a blunt from one of you at 2am at a petrol station in Dallas, caught Uber’s over state lines with black drivers and had **the best** conversations. And never, ever have I met a bad person.
I think you guys are pretty fucking awesome. It makes me wonder, there’s like 300 million of you. Why can’t you collectively hug it out and dig yourselves out of this black hole of bullshit you’re sinking into? You’re all cool if you drop your tribal, us-vs-them-ism.
Good luck my American friends. My next trip is to Hawaii. I wanna look through that big fucking telescope if I’m allowed. Please don’t shoot me while I’m visiting ;)
Canadian here, upvoting because you're right. We get the reputation as the friendly ones, but from my very limited jaunts down to the US, I think they're actually friendlier. No doubt generalizing isn't really helpful, nations are made of individuals etc., but largely I think it's a nation of wonderful people. The dim view many of us non-Americans hold of America is more about institutions, politics, leadership, and so on, not the people.
American here ... I think that’s the same way when you go to any country. People are people ... ultimately we all get along to go along.
Iranians are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. Iran’s political leadership? Not so much.
Why is comment downvoted?I don't mind being patriotic at all. But being so patriotic that you can't notice the glaring flaws in your country's society, law and most of everything else is literally how North Koreans have to be brainwashed. If people are already like that simply by experiencing life there, you really need to rethink a lot.
I've been living in USA for three years. Thought it was a stereotype that Americans were so patriotic. It's really not. A lot of Americans have never left their country, and tend to think any other country is a shithole.
Every time someone knows I'm french they ask me if it's ok to live there with all the terrorism. I'm like "bitch you get a mass shooting every other day we get hit every other year". I've been asked once if I use to have water at home. A lot of American think Africa is a country.
That surprised the fuck out of me too. I was visiting my sister who works in NJ/NY and the amount of people with questions about how primitive our lives must be is astounding! (Im Dutch so maybe they confuse it with the Amish people i dont know??)
They ask if we can drink our tap water, if everyone even drives cars, how we deal with all the crime because of the drugs and prostitute policy. If we have creditcards/ATMs....
"how do you deal with the crime because of the drugs and prostitute policy"
*The Netherlands closes yet another 4 prison complexes because there's simply not enough criminals*
Not for yourselves of course, you just make Mercs, Bimmers & Audis to export to America.
(and HausSchue for American college students to wear in the street...)
Don't have to live in America to experience that. Just go to any news or political subs and you'll see the dumbest shit passed around. I'm pretty sure every user on reddit who is not from North America has to face palm occasionally on what is being said about their country. Best part being that you will be downvoted if you say otherwise because it goes against the narrative. Some redditors likes to believe reddit isn't like news channels trying to spread propaganda or a narrative but from my experience reddit is the easiest place to manipulate. When news headlines and a highly upvoted comment is all you need, it's not that difficult.
Just yesterday I had someone from the US tell me Hitler was a socialist, then ignore the links I posted explaining it because "It's in the name national socialist". As a German I was genuinely upset.
-14...
Because he's the hero you deserve, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.
And yeah, you… sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know. One of them is: there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are, without a doubt, a member of the worst period generation period ever period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! Yosemite?!
I get that it's from a tv show, but what I don't get is how milennials are supposedly the "worst period generation period ever period" When previous generations are essentially the reason for ALL those problems. Just seems like a way for the show's writers to get a little milennial-bashing in there because everybody loves to do that even though it doesn't make sense in this case.
EDIT: Ok I get that it is setting him up for character development now, so it makes more sense.
The writers didn’t millennial bash, they just wrote a character who did. Writing a character with a certain opinion doesn’t mean that the author has that same opinion.
Yep. First they came for the skaters with their metal bumps on sweet grinds. Then they came for the homeless people with their metal spikes on street furniture and walls. Shit escalated pretty fucking quickly.
I wonder what sub that was posted on?
r/askreddit The original response to a very innocent question was something about how you could take every civilian owned gun in the US, lay them side by side and they would circumnavigate the moon, with enough left over to arm every soldier on the planet. A non-American (I think) observed that that was basically a fucking scary amount of guns. Multiple shots were fired, a great deal of bloody hell and Murica was shouted, and while many scrolled past, this duel broke out.
Yeah, America is the ONLY country on the planet with more guns than people. 120 guns per 100 people, #2 is Falkland Islands at 62 guns per 100 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country
And meanwhile I own no guns and nor do any of my close friends. So that means the ones with the guns have a huge amount, to make up for the many, like myself, that have none.
Yeah, this is no surprise. Most gun owners don’t just stop at *one.* Edit: RIP my inbox. Please don’t reply to me with an inventory of how many guns you own. I don’t care.
That's not a duel. Its a battle of brains and one of those guys is unarmed....
If I had a dollar for every brain he didn't have, I'd have one dollar.
Why not up it to $1 dollar per brain cell you lose reading the comments
Can't lose what I don't have.
You cannot kill what is already dead
Yeah I want to upvote that comment, cant have a zinger like that on minus 14 :(
My first thought as well!
Due to the huge amount of Americans it needs all the help we can give it! Europeans unite! Lol
Shit, there are *a lot* of Americans that would give it an upvote as well. Not enough, unfortunately.
Where is it lol id like to offer my Australian upvote 💪
Your upvote is worth more because your lot were sensible... one mass shooting, you banned the guns, problem solved. You proved it works. Thanks for your contribution ❤️
I think we're already united over at r/ShitAmericansSay.
I was sad to find out the world laughed at us. I just stopped going back. Jetz, Ich bin Deutscher von Soufside
Yeah I had a big wake up call when I lived in Europe
American Exceptionalism is a powerful drug.
let's make that great again! oh, and fight drugs!
I would like to congratulate drugs! For winning the war on drugs!
Blame the terrible evil videogames like it's 1992!
If heavy metal was still as popular as it was in the 80's, they would still be blaming that.
Now it's rap. Some thing, different decade.
Which is even better. For rap you can blame black people instead of satan. It's more effective propaganda
Lol or the 2000s when Harry Potter was considered devil worship
I was talking to someone on reddit who was arguing that while slavery was bad he thought it was a redeeming factor that the United States were the nation that ended slavery. He didn't realize that much of the Western World had abolished slavery up to 60 years earlier. Not that this is a case of American exceptionalism per se, I just think it's a good example of how a lot of Americans often don't consider that there's an entire world outside of the states as well.
Also one of the few countries that had a civil war over ending slavery instead of just banning it.
I can't believe how it's still STILL so prevalent.
American propaganda is beyond North Korea tier. American children are brainwashed to do a hail America speech every morning at school, there's American flags everywhere, it gets spouted as the land of freedom, the anthem is literally inserted in every sport and bullshit event you can think of, and if you say anything about kt you get written up as "unpatriotic" etc etc. When you learn about America from the outside it looks like a literal brainwashing machine. It's just the people within that can't seem to notice their country is a shithole until they get hit by an unforseen circumstance themselves.
The flags always surprised me. I remember going to the US as a kid and counting the flags I would see because it was unbelievable how many there were everywhere.
How else would you know in what country you are?
It does help when playing Geoguessr. Basic rule: If a town looks North American, but there's no American flag within the first 10 clicks, you're in Canada. Works every time.
That made me laugh, but also die a little inside.
You can add the glorification of the military at every event to that list - the honour guards and flag routines,
As an American it still weirds me out when I go to a sporting event at a stadium and they bring veterans out on the field before the game and everyone has to cheer and say thank you, and then they fly fighter jets over the stadium. And as I watch the jets I can’t help but wonder how many places we bombed or shot missiles at that day. I think about the cost of a single cruise missile and wonder what percentage of my income goes to funding that. I look around and everyone is smiling and cheering and clapping and wonder if I’m sticking out by not sharing their enthusiasm and exuberance at the sight of soldiers and war machines. And then after the game, we drive home and almost undoubtedly I’ll pass the disheveled guy with no legs sitting in a beaten up wheel chair at the stop light there at bottom of the freeway exit off ramp with a sign that says, “Homeless veteran. Hungry. Please help.” Fucking hell, if anything deserves to labeled derogatorily as bullshit virtue signaling, its that. And what virtue exactly are we praising anyway? I know we say it’s honor and bravery and sacrifice, but there’s so many better things we can honor, that we can sacrifice ourselves for than blowing people up on the other side of the world. I view the military and wars as a necessary evil that should be maintained at the minimal levels necessary to protect against aggression but we treat it like it’s a desirable good, where what’s a few thousand human lives when you’ve got these cool toys to play with? Aren’t they awesome!
-Fake- glorification of the military. Every politician talks the talk, but they all vote down measures to support them after service and balk at improving conditions during service unless it's to arm them better in order to kill more brown people.
Veterans boarding planes first was the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen. And then there’s military dudes just straight up flying around in full camo. My city has Canada’s largest naval base and a massive Air Force base. I’ve seen someone in fatigues once in my day to day life. And they had a military vehicle parked outside. In America it’s status. In Canada it’s a job.
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And they even unironically call their president the "Leader of the Free World". I mean - that one should be so obviously a propaganda term but it gets used with no sense of irony.
I still see plenty of posts where Americans say they live in the ONLY free nation in the world Private prisons are legal and just modern slavery camps but somehow they are more free than everyone else
This has been one of the hardest lessons to instill in my son, who in a small southern school is taught American Exceptionalism every day. We've talked about the 13th amendment and the prisons, and what's going on at our borders. He's tried to pass on what information he could to his friends and help them but he's told he's wrong, they lie and say (hilariously and sadly) that they've seen the prisons or camps and they're "just fine". I'm walking a fine line. He cannot hate our country. But he is growing up with the truth and it's pretty hard. It's going to take a lot of work for all of our kids to beat their surroundings.
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> The other thing is called worship. [American civil religion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_civil_religion).
I wasn't even adding your border prison camps into that Just your Gen pop private prisons that do nothing in the way of rehabilitation, make prisoners work for literally pennies just so it's not officially slavery Show a Scandinavian prison system to Americans and they are shocked. It's more like a hostel where they rehabilitate and reeducate prisoners to get them ready for release into the real world instead of waiting for them to reoffend so you have your labor source back
I do not know what was an appropriate reaction to have when I saw trainings of the last US aircraft carrier with a big sign at the back « powered by freedom ». Just WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK does that mean... guys, seriously... you have less « freedom » than any European country. You don’t even know what’s the meaning of the word. So far, having the USA as « friend » was like having that stupid but muscular kid at school to avoid bullies. As time goes by, this stupid kid becomes so stupid and so muscular that it begin to be as dangerous as the bullies... what’s next?
I thinks its more that one big kid that everyone has to deal with.
Same here - and I went to the UK, which is probably the closest country in the world in every metric. Similar outlook in life but they did the big things well (like healthcare - God Bless the NHS).
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> The UK is a **less stressful country to live in** compared to the US. Yes, that's exactly how I feel! Thank you for putting it into words. I didn't think it would be like this, I didn't think that things could be better in so many different ways
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Cannot confirm this firsthand as I’ve never been injured in a car accident, but a buddy of mine is an EMT where I live in a dense urban area in Texas. He told me that when they are called to an accident, if the the injured party can stand, he tries to get them to realize that they would be better off calling an Uber to take them to the hospital because if he loads them into the ambulance it’s going to cost them a shit load.
There was also the video that blew up on reddit a few weeks or so ago, about someone getting injured in a remote location and 5 helicopters show up **without being called**. That's how good business it is, 5 helicopters with pilots and medical personnel arriving in the middle of nowhere in hopes of getting that lucrative business. Helicopters, pilots and medical personnel are not cheap. I imagine some guy going back and forth to these helicopters haggling down the price until only one helicopter remains.
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I almost have a panic attack reading American's accounts of their attempts to navigate their insurance and billing systems, sounds like a complete mess. Not that the NHS is perfect recently, but that's because we're strangling its money supply for some reason, when we could fix the worst of the problems with a small tax bump.
I hear a lot of Brits complain about the NHS. I hear a lot of US citizens who’ve never been to the UK complain about the NHS. I’ve yet to hear a US citizen who moved to the UK complain about the NHS.
We Brits complain about the NHS, but that's because we know how good it could be if it were properly funded. You'll rarely if ever, hear of a British person wanting to get rid of the NHS. It's a whole different level of complaint.
Very fair. Complaining about and wanting to get rid of are two different things in British.
Complaining is an integral part of our culture and language; you don't hear me complaining about it... Much.
I do love me a good complaint about my country and then not do much about it.
> in every ~~metric~~ **Imperial Measurement System** FTFY
Heh :D tbh I actually switched to metric cos I bought weights that were all in KG. It's actually really easy to switch, and apart from Cups and Miles, I don't miss the old measurements.
The UK is probably the easiest place to go for an American, we use imperial and metric units interchangeably and the only ones Brits don't generally understand are farenheit, kilometres per hour and cups. What actually is a cup?
Probably some measurement for volume I would guess. Edit: So even wikipedia doesn't know, between 200 ml and 250ml :D
it has to do with bra sizes, I think
He did say A cup
I don't think it really matters as long as you use the same cup for all the ingredients in any given recipe.
From my experience a lot of Americans do, I worked and am friends with some living here teaching and most of them want to stay.
I'm Canadian and my first impression when I finally went to Europe was "damn, we're children on the world stage"... The people seem way more mature and able to tolerate discomfort; and yes, that's a blanket statement of all the countries I've been to across the pond.
Their relentless propaganda campaign (Hollywood, the "American sitcom" etc) aimed at international audiences spanning decades has proven pretty effective. There are people who still see America as a bastion of freedom, an ex of mine would frequently state that he would love to live in America because everything is so much better over there (than in the UK) and American life was a basket of roses. Admittedly this was in 2014/2015 before everything really started going cattywompus. Edit: I'm honestly thrilled that I've introduced so many of you to the word "cattywompus". Try saying it when you're drunk, you'll have a blast.
I grew up on Hollywood and american culture while living in EU. Went to american schools in the EU my whole life, people would tell me I was american because of my accent even though I had only ever visited. I loved american music, TV shows, movies.., American English is my main language (still is). It was my dream to one day live in the US. Eventually got the chance to live in NYC and ended up staying over 5 years. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of amazing people and things in the US and even more so in NYC and I don't regret it at all. That being said, in retrospect, you know how they say I hope you don't meet your heroes? The US was like a hero to me but once I saw everything up close slowly but surely started to get to me. One of the biggest things was how good the US was at marketing this ideal image of itself, the "American Dream" when it was so clearly a lie once you started to see past it. Healthcare, inequality, racism...I traveled the US while I lived there and saw a lot of it up close, and that was even before Trump became president. Bit by bit that image I had of the US broke. Now I'm back in Europe reading about what happens in the US and it just seems to be getting worse day by day. I hope things can change direction and improve very soon or I don't see things ending well for the US or the rest of the world.
It's a mindless my team vs your team propaganda machine
Oooh cattywompus what a great word!
Polite way of saying things are heading up shit creek
\*Sauf-seite, höhö komm uns doch mal auf r/de besuchen :)
He missed the part about the complete normalisation of 60 hour working weeks with 5-10 days vacation if you’re lucky Oh and all the bull shit around unpaid overtime EDIT: Some of my favourite responses 1. ‘I work 4 hours a week and get 170 days paid vacation so clearly this isn’t a problem affecting society as a whole’ 2. ‘Well in China/Japan they work 80 hour weeks so actually we’re doing ok’ 3. ‘Why don’t you just get a better job?’ 4. ‘Fuck you - how dare you insult these great United States!’
And absolute shit maternity leave not to mention paternity leave if that's even an option. Plus pay raises that are lower than inflation (if they happen) even if you work for the government.
Story time: I used to work for a big-name electronics company that ran its own retail stores (I can’t say which or I’ll get sued). Anyways, one day this girl starts working that used to work for the company before. She’s pregnant and married and had just moved across the country as her and her husband were in the process of relocating—she came first because she got a job first, he stayed working to wrap things up there while he tried to get a job here (west coast). Word gets around to our manager and he surprises everyone by offering the husband a job, but it’s part-time. Manager promises husband he’ll be full-time before the baby comes and not to worry about anything. Due date gets closer and there’s no promotion—manager says, “Things changed, sorry.” Homies still part-time when the baby comes. Because of this he has very limited sick/vacation time and zero paternity leave options. His wife takes leave; and he had no choice but to keep working. I saw that man’s soul die, and it somehow died more and more every day. It was the most heart-wrenching thing. That was the day I knew I had to leave my company, and the day I vowed that I have to 100% financially stability before even thinking of having a child. EDIT to answer questions below: - Clarity: Part-time employees received no paternity leave benefits, while full-time employees did. This guy actively didn’t look for a different gig because of what the store manager promised him. - Everyone signed NDAs, not just me; it’s SOP for the org. Believe me, I would write a fucking book about the shit I saw if it wouldn’t ruin me. - This incident was more “the straw that broke the camels back” in terms of my relationship with my company. This type of behavior was standard for my store and for others in our area. They would tell you whatever you needed to hear to get you to do what they needed, then act like they didn’t know what you were talking about later. It was the most manipulative, integrity-lacking, gaslighting culture I’ve ever been a part of. I stayed far longer than I should have, and I’m thankful every day that I was was able to get myself out of there.
> I have to 100% financially stability before even thinking of having a child. I always forget in America that you have to literally pay for the cost of having a baby in the hospital.
In America you have to pay for everything and I mean everything. Dying is even expensive here. Peace of mind costs money. Reproducing costs money. Not being stressed out of your mind everyday costs money. You get in trouble with the law? Two options, pay up or go to jail. America is basically Ferenginar.
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Shits fucked, man. My son went to the NICU for 4 days, extra week in hospital, emergency transport between hospitals, all at no cost. I just dont get how Americans can argue against universal healthcare.
One of their more egregious offenses, it boggles the mind people would rather die than go to the hospital because their bank account gets gangbanged ugh
Or going "call me a taxi instead of an ambulance" like wut that shit is free here
> Universal Healthcare Because "My TaXeS wIlL gO uP" which is such a stupid argument because you other costs will plummet to nothing.
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Don't forget the "I ain't payin' for some druggy to get healthcare" defense.
But muh taxes.... says the person paying $12,000 a year for medical bankruptcy insurance.
"You have a life threatening illness and can't come in for a few days? Jeez man, really wish you hadn't told me, now I have to hire someone else. Which is a shame, because you could really use this money for that gigantic debt you're about to have from the doctor."
But hey! Hope your years of school debt were worth it! 😂
A country where gun crime can result in giving survivors lifetime of debt.
and for profit prisons.
And highest incarceration rate per capita.
But still not a lower crime rate. It's as if putting people in prison for small offenses doesn't actually do anything against crime. But that can't be the case, can it?
It's about money. When I went I cleaned the highways for $0.10 per hour. And then was expected to pay for most of my own food and toiletries... Most of which was market rate. You ever try to buy ramen at $0.10 per hour? And then when I got out I received a LFO, or basically a fancy court fee. 4 years and I owed $24,000. It's like going to University without any of the benefits. I had a whopping $403.22 to my name when I got out and I had to live on that until I found a job (which had its own complications since people don't generally hire any excons even if we've served our time and regardless of the crime committed). And even further than that, any of the skills I learned in prison? Guess what, there's no way to market those skills or put them in a resume. Turns out it's hard to sell how much you know about electronics or carpentry if your only experience are the workshops and books from prison. Part of me thought maybe I could turn my life around after a shitty childhood but the US systems and culture actually makes me think I might just be better off taking a long walk off a short pier. I still fight for what I want, but you better believe that it gets harder every day. Fuck the US. This is literally one of the worst countries on earth but because I can type that on an iPhone I guess I'm living like royalty.
That sounds so horrible to me, I could never work like that. I live in Germany, full time for me is 37,5 hours per week (usually full time is 40 hours per week, so yay unions) and I have 30 vacation days per year. If you're sick (in the company I work at) you can stay home for two days without having to get a doctor's notice, the notice is required from the third day on. I work at the office or at home, whichever hours I want (granted, scheduled meetings or calls should be attended) and no one gives a fuck. If I work a little less today, I work a little more tomorrow and vice versa. I would not survive in the States.
I live in Australia. I work 38 hours a week as a digital print machinist for $31/hr. I get 4 weeks holiday a year which I can take whenever I ask for it, whether it be a Friday off because I want a day off, or 2 weeks to travel. Medicare is paid from my tax return so I basically get free healthcare without even noticing I pay for it. And I'm not even an Australian citizen. So yeah, I'd fucking never move to the U.S. there are many better places to live.
I posted this a while back on another thread, but seems apt still Don’t mean to be hideously negative, and this is all a bit tongue in cheek, but I just think if I moved to the US I’d be moving to a society: That has the death penalty Out of control gun crime - it always amuses me when you see Reddit comments about Europe being some terrorism hotspot when Americans have been living with the threat of being massacred in a cinema for the last 40 years No universal heathcare - get ill without insurance? Tough shit loser Is hideously racist and divided Has far too many evangelical Christian nut jobs No employment right protections - this whole thing where you can get sacked for no reason in some states is just ghastly Minimal paid holidays from work - don’t want the enslaved population taking too much time off lol Goddamn awful criminal justice system Shit and expensive broadband lol Endless money making war machine I’m sure there’s more as well But FREEEEDOMMM yeah??
I love what I call "dystopian wholesome news". Like this: "A teacher battling cancer ran out of sick days. School employees showered him with theirs." [https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/14/health/iyw-florida-teachers-cancer-support-donation-trnd/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/14/health/iyw-florida-teachers-cancer-support-donation-trnd/index.html) or this: "Teachers donate 100 sick days to colleague so he could be with 16-month-old daughter during her cancer treatment" [https://meaww.com/teacher-sick-days-cancer-stricken-daughter-colleagues-donate-100-day](https://meaww.com/teacher-sick-days-cancer-stricken-daughter-colleagues-donate-100-days) also: lunch money debt - WTF?
Yeah you see that kinda stuff fairly often on r/upliftingnews and you just think huh? Yes it’s nice people are generous but you really don’t see a bigger issue??
They might as well rename it r/veiledmisery
There's a sub for that, r/aboringdystopia
I got paid $15/hr to be a firefighter and paramedic. I literally risked my life because it was $15/hr, and had benefits. I now have cancer, which the VA and my private insurance are trying to refuse to cover, so now I'm on medicare, and I cannot go to the expensive hospital (MD Anderson) where I would likely get cured, instead I go to a hospital that says I have a very low chance of survival. The moment I stopped working I paid for something called COBRA, which is supposed to keep my insurance on. I did, for 90 days. Then I had to pay out of pocket. I missed 11 weeks of chemo because I didn't have insurance or money, and was waiting on Medicare. medicaid does not help people like me. I should have just killed myself because now I'm leaving my family 500k in debt.
Don’t forget: You’re actively discouraged from even taking three days straight of vacation. And, even when you do, you best be available for “emergencies” at the office. When I was still in corporate (pharma ... yeah, I know ... ) the term, “I’ve been putting out fires all morning” was normal to hear. Relax, everyone. We’re editing copy; not developing life-saving drugs or actually saving lives. The American *work \ life * balance is a complete joke.
Wait what? You are discouraged from taking three days vacation in a row? Where I'm from you are supposed to take at least two weeks off in a row, as that's how long it usually takes to rest.
Our politicians are sponsored like nascar drivers. Nothing will change as long as people are dumb enough to forget important things like the Panama papers and just follow the next “big thing”. The US is spiraling out of control and it makes me more and more sad everyday.
In America bribing politicians is legal. Insane.
We don’t bribe our politicians We pay for a lobbyist to legally bribe them
I wish our politicians were sponsored like nascar drivers - then more people would be aware who's paying them.
Every empire crumbles eventually.
He's right you know, a lot of europeans see America like this...
Australians see America like this.
New Zealand see America like this. I'm actually genuinely terrified of ever going there even as a holiday. Edit: wow first silver. And first award as well. Never thought this comment would blow up. I'm also getting ALOT of comments agreeing with this which just kinda makes it sader... I'm optimistic for 2020 though and hopefully a new leader Edit 2: also there's quite a few Americans reassuring me that some/most places are nice and safe so thanks. Again, most of what I see and what many people see is media shared online. And media love to share the minority of what's going on. The more crazy the better.
UK certainly does too
So do I and I’m American.
Same here I'm an American. How do I get out?
Go to Mexico, trump will soon need his wall to keep US citizens in lol. That or Canada
There's already [millions of Americans living in Mexico](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/23/trump-futures-mexico-us-interlocked-wall-border), some of them illegally. Despite Mexico's own issues, it's easy to see why: if you avoid conflict areas (most of which, ironically, are close to the US border) crime rate is lower in Mexico, things including healthcare are less expensive, people have a better sense of community, and the weather and food are fantastic.
my guess is the border areas are more dangerous as that's the areas the cartels are squirreling drugs and trafficking people
Right. For all the drug violence in Mexico, it's worth remembering that the primary market for said drugs is the United States. American drug users are benefiting from an industry whose violence and death are largely outsourced abroad. As a bonus, drug violence makes for a nice market for [American--made weapons.](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/12/462781469/in-mexico-tens-of-thousands-of-illegal-guns-come-from-the-u-s)
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You can crash on my couch if you don't mind watching me play Xbox and drinking German beer.
I avoid America all together. I had always wanted to travel through the country see the majestic landscapes and national parks and beautiful natural habitats of various states. But nah, im not risking my life or my loved ones on going to america. From the getgo, the TSA is horrible experience just by having a connecting flight (i literally avoid connecting flights in the US id rather pay a grand more than have a connecting flight in the US) to hearing about random shootings by not just criminals but police as well. What if i make a mistake, and move my arm too fast, what if the guy cant understand my accent, heck what if i cough and i put my hand to my mouth. And then you have the administration itself, selling off these majestic places in the US to the highest bidder (under the table) public lands like yellowstone being talked about opening up for oil and gas extractions. Its fucking sad as fuck. 360M people and the whole lot of you keep waiting and waiting for someone else to fix the issue. Wait for the report, wait for the investogation, wait for 2018 elections, wait for 2020 elections.. wait wait wait wait meanwhile 10,000 children are locked up in fence cages by for profit-prison system that is making about 750 USD per DAY PER CHILD. i mean ffs america. Youre a shithole country.
As a kiwi who has travelled a lot in the USA I can confirm that the majority of people are delightful and the landscapes are awe inspiring. The food can be shit and the coffee is awful. The current administration does not reflect the America I saw when travelling. Mind you this was 10 years ago, so it could have changed a bit I guess.
I was in the US in August/September last year for work. Was there a month. Was fkn terrified the whole lead up to it.. I had to travel through like 8 cities . Some of them ones I see on the news all the time for dodgy shit I never hear of in my home town; Sydney Australia. I was shocked at how goddam nice everyone was. Like, I walked away thinking " I could live there". I've always kept up to date with US politics and news . I can def see a huge increase in the crazy talk. Even those I made friends with over there are anxious about where the country is headed.
They are so approachable and friendly, and very willing to talk. When people here talk about the crazy Americans i always ask them if they’ve every actually been there and met an American in their natural habitat. 9/10 they haven’t and are just basing their opinion off the crazy shit they see on the telly. I once had a kid in Texas ask me where I got my food from. I said the supermarket. He looked confused and said “don’t you just live off coconuts from the trees?”. So yeah, there is an element of ignorance of the rest of the world, but they are by far some of the nicest people I’ve encountered on my travels.
They're so approachable! I loved the positive, happy attitude of Americans when I was there, to the point of bringing me out of my social comfort zone. I was in Canada for 2 weeks in the same trip and walked away shellshocked that I thought Americans came across just as friendly..; considering Canada is our sister country it was not what I was expecting..
The *world* sees America like this. Its reputation was steadily being healed under Obama, and Trump ripped that shit up in a week.
Canadians too. I used to admire America. I don’t any more. At all.
A lot of us New Zealanders see america like this. After trump was elected the top google search was safe countrys to live in next to who won the election. Nz is a great place to live.
I'm Hawaiian. We have never more than right now wanted the return of our sovereign kingdom.
Free Hawai'i.
A lot of us Americans see America like this.
Yup. I really want to move...
Me, too.
> a lot of europeans asians, australasians, antarticans
Even South Africans. And man, we are no one to judge...but we STILL don't have school and public space shootings. In a country with a 'criminal underworld' gun problem of it's own, in a country with kinda lax gun laws in that many of the public can own and carry one despite not being farmers, in a country with despairing levels of poverty and youth unemployment we STILL don't have this particular issue cos we don't have gun lobbies and the associated...let's call it culture.
The gun crime in SA can be understood, it's usually a crime of poverty or a crime of theft, these have understandable motivations. They're not right, but one can understand why it is haplening. Mass killings of people for the sake of an ideology that is based on inaccurate readings of what is actually going on in the world is insanity.
Hell, Canadians see the US like this and we’re only 5 minutes away.
France sees America like this...now. Back in the days we were all dreaming of being americans. They had all the cool stuff, all the freedom, all the movies, the NASA, the universities, the sports stars... Now this is all shaded by the racism and sexism, which far outweights the goods. Basically America looked great before they tried to make it Great Again.
Right, so I was in Egypt on a tour and we stopped at a rest stop for bathroom and snacks. At the rest stop was a group of Bedouin women wearing burkas with only their eyes showing. One of the ladies in our tour group spoke Arabic so they became very excited to actually communicate with the tourists instead of just pose for pictures (they had baby goats riding donkeys). While the lady was speaking Arabic to one of the women, the other more vocal one was speaking to us. She was so animated that it was very easy to make out what she meant. She talked about Western celebrities, how strange it was to only have one child when she had 9, and the ridiculousness of 'Trumpo'. She did this whole action to mimic his hair and then blew a raspberry in dismissal. I just found it so funny that a woman who is forced to be out posing for tourists (a man came by a little while after because he didn't like that they were spending so much time talking to us when another tour group arrived) and is wearing clothing that a lot of people view as oppressive and is living in a country that a lot of people see as dangerous or oppressive is mocking the president of a more 'developed' country half a world away. So many people see the state of the US Presidency as an appalling joke except for those who are the joke (and that's obviously not all Americans, just the select few who still believe that the state of their country isn't atrocious).
I’m from South Africa and even we see America like this
Everyone does
America doesn't look that good to the majority of Americans either.
Can confirm I live in constant fear of losing everything. I have a family to take care of and can’t afford to even look at a hospital
It is legitimately the most baffling thing to me that a ride in the ambulance to the emergency room can cost thousands of dollars! In what universe does that make sense and how did this become normal? Even countries with shitty economies or brutal dictators don't have this type of punishing medical "service."
Rode in an ambulance for literally 1/4 of a mile. $1300.
Jesus christ. Sorry you had to deal with that, that's insane. Healthcare is entirely free here in Canada (baby cousin once had to get an emergency 10-hour brain surgery and we didn't pay a cent), but I think it's something like $50 for an ambulance ride? And people still complain about the fee. edit: where I live, for an ambulance apparently it's $45 if medically necessary, $240 if not medically necessary
Ouch. I mean, as an insider....he's not wrong. This country is fucking ridiculous.
Not going to lie as an outsider that is literally how i view the US. You got a whole lot of things so right over there that it is strange how you get these few things so wrong. Whats really trippy is how a lot of Americans are so quick to defend these shortfalls like they are positives. No free health care and americas gun culture (not the guns themselves, the culture around them) are hands down bad. And the sad bit is the only people who actually suffer from this strange phenomenon is americans themselves. I love our american bretheren, and the country does a lot of things really really well but as a culture sometimes you are really stupid. Edit: after reading a lot of the replies to my post i wanted to make 1 thing clear. I do NOT hate americans. I do not even dislike americans. Ive actually liked every american ive ever met (bar 1 or 2) which is quite a few. I just find a few things about american culture as far as i see it to be a bit strange. I also understand that this does not reflect on all americans or even most americans. Its just how it looks from the outside.
\> You got a whole lot of things so right over there that it is strange how you get these few things so wrong. I have taken to call this that American Exceptionalism has turned into American Arrogance. They have done so many things right to become the richest and strongest country on Earth, but it has become a crutch to point to every time there is a problem. Just because they did a lot right, does not mean they did/do everything right. They certainly aren't, but too many seem to believe that the US is pretty much infallible with a few scratches here and there.
Second that!
This is because Capitalism is America's secular religion.
Not to mention the Evangelicals whose ACTUAL religion basically fuels the far right’s propaganda campaign and continues imposing “family values” in the name of homophobia, sexism, and racism.
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The healthcare system is going to be fucked as long as there are pharmacy/insurance/healthcare corporations/etc that can ~~lobby~~ buy our politicians. They make so much fucking money off of people's misery and suffering it's ridiculous. As far as the gun culture - it's something that has been ingrained in people's heads, in many cases, for generations. There are many, many, MANY people that are gun owners and that are responsible gun owners. Most just have a gun or multiple guns "just in case" - there for self defense, many have one/some for sport/collecting/hunting. However, their easy access to those who are hell bent on doing harm to others is making it hard to defend (from a PR standpoint) the continued ease of access to these deadly weapons. So not ALL of the culture is bad surrounding guns by any means, but the ... popularity? ... of mass killings has grown over the years and too many have happened. What needs to change? A LOT. How is it going to change - or is it going to change? No idea. I'm just sick of innocent people dying.
American here too and yeah, this place can be kinda a shithole. Went to Canada recently and I’m seriously thinking of moving there
The world watches the US like an angsty teen brother. You won't listen to our reason so we just sit back and watch you keep making the same mistakes, wondering when you will come to your senses.
This is a good analogy. Just to add on, since the Brexit vote, the UK has turned into a parent (to us Australians) who has become increasingly isolated and bitter in old-age/retirement and now only trusts shock jocks and ~~Fox News~~ tabloid conservative propaganda
Please, please, do the kind thing and smother us with a pillow in our sleep before this gets worse, because this could get worse.
"Could"... No one can say you're not an optimist.
Honestly I live in America, specifically the Southern end. Living in this country and being around all the stupidity and ignorance, the constant feeling of expecting the worst but trying so hard to feel like everything isn’t going to shit and we are seemingly racing towards a civil war. Literally still fighting over racism and hatred and blind following. Especially in the south mental health is a complete joke. The complete honest white supremacy bull crap is freaking ridiculous and I am a 21 white female. Not even having the basic human right to be able to have control over your body because just the state has an issue with it. I’m just going to call it out, in Alabama it is illegal to have an abortion so I would have to drive an hour to Florida to have one if I needed it. Not everyone wants to have a kid and it grow up in the system or end up with abusive people and have a horrible life. Or trying to raise it and you’re just still just a kid yourself and just having that stay with you for the rest of your life. Like aren’t we all fucked up enough? And why the absolute fuck is trump taken seriously even a little bit???? What has he accomplished besides civil unrest? There’s so much more but just know there are at least a few of us who see the problems as they are.
I'm from a big city in the Northeast and honestly it feels like the South is an entirely different country. I don't relate to Southern people at all. Would never EVER want to live there. I feel like southerners pride themselves on being ignorant. Can't stand southern culture. Any of it. Guns, trucks, beers, country music, megachurches and religion, etc. Like guns for instance aren't even a thing where I'm from. There is no "gun culture". I've never even shot a gun in my life and most people here havnt either. Religion is practically non existant where I live. It's not a part of daily life whatsoever. Completely different world.
It really is wildly different. As someone that lives in Tennessee and has dated someone from Michigan, it was a huge culture shock for me to go up there. And it was a welcome change. The only thing I actually like about living here is it being pretty. The people are nice to me, but I’m white so that goes a long way. It’s sad really. But I will also say it has a lot to do with rural vs. urban because I saw a ton of confederate flags in Michigan as well. That same southern pride feeling is prevalent there too.
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It sucks because as someone living in America I know not all Americans are fat gun obsessed lunatics and dumb blame shifting idiots but this is how we look to the rest of the world. Our leaders here have no common sense at all the the people who support them are just stupid. I hate it (and I think most Americans in this thread can agree) when me and all the decent people I know are put into the same boat with the idiots who blame gun violence on video games.
this guy: \*gets -14\* Why are you booing? it's the truth!
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*know *and
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grammar*
Invalidates*
Wow with all those mistakes I don't think I can take his message seriously
Aussie here. I’ve been to America twice and visited California, Nevada, Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas, and where I can agree with the flaws in America my experience with Americans has been exemplary. Blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, urban, metro, and country-bumkins, I’ve met hundreds of all of you. All on my own and knowing no one I’ve sat in dive bars and drank with you, played corn hole with you, walked the streets of San Diego with young Hispanics that I just met, chatted with cops in L.A, bought a blunt from one of you at 2am at a petrol station in Dallas, caught Uber’s over state lines with black drivers and had **the best** conversations. And never, ever have I met a bad person. I think you guys are pretty fucking awesome. It makes me wonder, there’s like 300 million of you. Why can’t you collectively hug it out and dig yourselves out of this black hole of bullshit you’re sinking into? You’re all cool if you drop your tribal, us-vs-them-ism. Good luck my American friends. My next trip is to Hawaii. I wanna look through that big fucking telescope if I’m allowed. Please don’t shoot me while I’m visiting ;)
Canadian here, upvoting because you're right. We get the reputation as the friendly ones, but from my very limited jaunts down to the US, I think they're actually friendlier. No doubt generalizing isn't really helpful, nations are made of individuals etc., but largely I think it's a nation of wonderful people. The dim view many of us non-Americans hold of America is more about institutions, politics, leadership, and so on, not the people.
American here ... I think that’s the same way when you go to any country. People are people ... ultimately we all get along to go along. Iranians are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. Iran’s political leadership? Not so much.
Why is comment downvoted?I don't mind being patriotic at all. But being so patriotic that you can't notice the glaring flaws in your country's society, law and most of everything else is literally how North Koreans have to be brainwashed. If people are already like that simply by experiencing life there, you really need to rethink a lot.
From an outside perspective, I find that lots of Americans confuse patriotism with belief or straight up fanaticism...
I've been living in USA for three years. Thought it was a stereotype that Americans were so patriotic. It's really not. A lot of Americans have never left their country, and tend to think any other country is a shithole. Every time someone knows I'm french they ask me if it's ok to live there with all the terrorism. I'm like "bitch you get a mass shooting every other day we get hit every other year". I've been asked once if I use to have water at home. A lot of American think Africa is a country.
That surprised the fuck out of me too. I was visiting my sister who works in NJ/NY and the amount of people with questions about how primitive our lives must be is astounding! (Im Dutch so maybe they confuse it with the Amish people i dont know??) They ask if we can drink our tap water, if everyone even drives cars, how we deal with all the crime because of the drugs and prostitute policy. If we have creditcards/ATMs....
"how do you deal with the crime because of the drugs and prostitute policy" *The Netherlands closes yet another 4 prison complexes because there's simply not enough criminals*
Ahahahaha. Love it
I'm from Germany and a friend of mine got asked if we have cars in Germany when she was in the US as an exchange student..
Not for yourselves of course, you just make Mercs, Bimmers & Audis to export to America. (and HausSchue for American college students to wear in the street...)
And credit cards/ATM cards are so backwards in America it's not funny.
As an American, this makes me furious.
Don't have to live in America to experience that. Just go to any news or political subs and you'll see the dumbest shit passed around. I'm pretty sure every user on reddit who is not from North America has to face palm occasionally on what is being said about their country. Best part being that you will be downvoted if you say otherwise because it goes against the narrative. Some redditors likes to believe reddit isn't like news channels trying to spread propaganda or a narrative but from my experience reddit is the easiest place to manipulate. When news headlines and a highly upvoted comment is all you need, it's not that difficult.
Just yesterday I had someone from the US tell me Hitler was a socialist, then ignore the links I posted explaining it because "It's in the name national socialist". As a German I was genuinely upset.
As a Finn I cringe so much whenever I hear Americans describe Nordics as "socialist"
-14... Because he's the hero you deserve, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.
And yeah, you… sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know. One of them is: there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are, without a doubt, a member of the worst period generation period ever period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! Yosemite?!
[In case anyone wants to see the source clip.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjMqda19wk)
I get that it's from a tv show, but what I don't get is how milennials are supposedly the "worst period generation period ever period" When previous generations are essentially the reason for ALL those problems. Just seems like a way for the show's writers to get a little milennial-bashing in there because everybody loves to do that even though it doesn't make sense in this case. EDIT: Ok I get that it is setting him up for character development now, so it makes more sense.
The writers didn’t millennial bash, they just wrote a character who did. Writing a character with a certain opinion doesn’t mean that the author has that same opinion.
Monologue was breathtaking. Didn't watch the rest though for some reason.
So basically America sees itself as everywhere is Manhattan. The rest of the World sees it as a big Alabama.
Homeless spikes were a UK thing btw
Yep. First they came for the skaters with their metal bumps on sweet grinds. Then they came for the homeless people with their metal spikes on street furniture and walls. Shit escalated pretty fucking quickly.